


Welcome Player Two

by LewdPointyNoses



Category: Tobaku Haouden Rei | Gambling Emperor Legend Zero
Genre: Arcades, Cute, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Giveaway, M/M, Teen Romance, video games - Freeform, zero/shirube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-29 22:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20803754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LewdPointyNoses/pseuds/LewdPointyNoses
Summary: On warm summer's day, Zero and Shirube went to the arcade. The beginning of a blossoming relationship~





	Welcome Player Two

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BadSquidPuns](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadSquidPuns/gifts).

Shirube was waiting, tapping listlessly on his phone. He looked around, no one had arrived yet. In front of him was the video game arcade, behind him, the bustling city, with many people shopping, chattering, and rushing to their destinations. 

It was a nice summer day today, a soft afternoon with a bit of wind and blue skies, just warm enough to not be uncomfortable with all that city heat of concrete, stone and glass.

“Hm...” hummed Shirube, still waiting. He was a bit too early, but he liked having that peaceful quiet time before meeting someone. Leaning against the lamp post behind him, the sunlit steel warmed his back, and he continued to look around.

Then, suddenly, he spotted something from afar. Something, or rather someone, approaching quickly, sprinting at full speed. A blue and white spot, coming closer.

Shirube squinted slightly.

Was that...?

But he had no time to think and stare for longer, because that blue and white lightning bolt had already reached him and abruptly stopped with squeaking shoes. 

“HAA!! HAA!! I’M NOT TOO LATE!” panted the breathless person, hands on their knees, bent over and wheezing for air. Shirube tilted his head gently and looked at him. How curious.

“Hi there, Shirube!” grinned the person, and looked up: It was Zero, his school mate. (They hung out together sometimes, with Zero talking a lot and Shirube listening.)

Zero was still panting and breathless, a gentle blush on his face from running so fast. Shirube continued to look at him, and mumbled: “Hi there.” After a beat and more of Zero’s panting, he added: “You are not too late, you are too early. Like me.”

“Ah-ah!” Zero waved a cheeky finger and said with a smile: “To be punctual means to know when the other one arrives!” And winked at Shirube.

Shirube gasped a little and faint blush appeared on his cheeks.

Finally standing upright with a calmer breath, Zero turned to the big and shiny video game arcade next to them.

“Let’s go inside!” grinned Zero, and took Shirube’s hand, his smile just as bright as the neon lights around them.

“Oh...” wondered Shirube, and they both went inside.

The glass doors closed behind him.

Many wonderful games and machines everywhere, the dream of any friend of entertainment and digital amusement. Blinking lights with even bigger prizes, crane games with impressive toys, arcade machines with unique joysticks and controllers, blaring loud and expressive music from all corners and angles, overlapping, overwhelming.

Shirube looked quietly around, getting pulled by jolly Zero, and trotted behind him at a slower pace. They made straight for a popular fantasy fighting game, an arcade game with colourful characters and even more impressive weapons and fighting styles.

“Wanna play a round?” asked Zero in a merry tone. Shirube just shrugged his shoulders and nodded: “Yeah...” He was still kind of transfixed by Zero’s hand holding his. How warm and nice it was.

Zero let go of Shirube’s hand and sat down on one of the machines, then quickly pointed at the machine opposite of him. “We can play against each other like that!”

Shirube just gently smiled and nodded. That was a fun idea, he thought. He had never played this game, but it looked pretty self-explanatory. One joystick, six buttons, a normal fighting game. Zero puffed out his chest and proclaimed: “I’m pretty good at this game! I even won an arcade tournament once!”

They sat down, and Zero looked over the machine towards him. “Ready?” he beamed with determination.

** _20 minutes and 7 matches later_ **

“Aaaaaaaaaah!” groaned Zero, “How are you so good! You won 5 matches and the other ones were so close!! Did you play this game before?!”

Shirube let go of his joystick and tilted his head in a coy manner. “No... I never played it before.” Zero came up to him and gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder. “You’re a natural!” and grinned.

“Hm!” chuckled Shirube, blushing a little.

They both walked some more through the colourful arcade. Shirube was fascinated by the lights and screens, even if he found this place a little loud. Zero was smitten to see Shirube that bright, and smiled to himself.

Then, at the end of one corridor of machines, Zero spotted something. “Oh!” he exclaimed, and pointed quickly at it. “I want to play one of these!”

Zero darted away and Shirube jogged lightly behind him to the machine in question. Arriving at the big and blinking thing, Zero’s eyes widened as he pressed his face at the glass:

A crane game.

One of those classic arcade games where you could win a plush or other fluffy things for kids and young ones. A dangly claw hung over the sea of bright plush animals, ready to grab whatever the player desired. Even though it looked a little bit weak.

But Zero was set on the idea.

With a determined grin he put coins into the machine.

Shirube mumbled: “... I thought these were rigged.” He pointed with a single slow finger at it. “The claw can’t lift such heavy prices.”

“Ah, you’ll never know until you try it!” answered Zero and grabbed the joystick with a confident swing.

The crane began to shift to the right, and after a jolly tune and a beep, it went down, towards the ocean of plushies.

It went in and... grabbed nothing.

And with a sad jingle, it returned to its original place.

“Oh.” remarked Zero.

Without saying another word, he fumbled more coins into the machine, and tried again. Shirube looked curiously over his shoulder.

His clenched hands guided the crane over to the same place, the claw went down, and... nothing.

The sad jingle played its melody anew.

“Gnhhh...” grumbled Zero, and stuck more coins into the machine.

Jolly tune, claw down, nothing, sad jingle.

This continued for four times in a row.

“GNNNNRRH...” growled Zero, slamming in his last coins he fumbled out of his wallet.

Jolly tune, the claw went down, Zero was sweating, his tongue between his lips, concentrating hard, looking with wide focused eyes, even Shirube felt a little tense looking at him, the crane shook a little as it grabbed something big and floofy, it was a friendly panda bear plush, with a big smile and a squishy bamboo shoot in its paws, Zero’s eyes widened, Shirube lips parted with wonder, and-

The plush fell off.

The sad jingle was a melody of total defeat.

Zero’s head sunk.

“Man...” he sighed.

He stared into his wallet, no coins were left.

And with it, his chance to win this big soft plush.

He sighed gravely.

Suddenly, Shirube’s hand brushed Zero’s shoulder. Zero darted around and saw... Shirube holding up his own wallet.

His shy eyes found Zero’s and he mumbled, blushing a little: “... Should I try?”

Zero was flustered, stammering, “I... I uh... Y-Yes? Yes... you can try?”

The swapped places, Zero now looking over Shirube’s shoulder. He put in the coins, and took the joystick in his hand, the other resting on the buttons.

Carefully, Shirube guided the crane, and stopped just above the big panda plush. Gently pushing the buttons to lower the claw, it opened, and...

Took hold of the big panda.

Lifted it up, but suddenly, it fell half off, only get held by it’s leg.

“Oh dear...” gasped Zero, “That’s amazing... Be careful...” and peeked out next to him.

They was fully concentrating, not letting go, staring at that friendly stuffed animal coming closer, and with a loud happy jingle...!

It fell into the machine, and tumbled out the metal compartment in front.

Shirube reached down, and took it out. As his hand touched the plush, he was amazed how soft it felt. Really cosy and cuddly. With two hands, he held it in front of himself and handed it to Zero.

“There...” he breathed, relieved.

Zero was incredibly flustered and blushing, and stammered as he took it: “T-Thank you...”

But he seemed a little off about it, looking away, as if he was massively embarrassed.

Nervous. 

“... Is everything ok?” asked Shirube, tilting his head, “I thought you wanted this one...”

Zero simply nodded, but turned even more red. Heavily blushing, he turned the plush in his hands, so that the panda faced Shirube again.

Standing there amidst the noise and lights, a big fluffy smiling panda in his hands, Zero whispered, just audibly enough for Shirube:

_“... I wanted to win this panda for you. ... That’s what you do on a date... right?_”

Shirube’s eyes widened, and he gently gasped.

Zero was fidgeting, but finally scraped his last bit of courage together and held the big smiley bear out to Shirube with a flustered smile.

“T-There... for you!!”

And he quickly added:

“I... I hope t-that’s ok!!!”

But Shirube paid no attention to the apology and simply took the floofy bear in his arms. Nuzzling it with great care and a rare wide smile. How soft and big it was, he wondered, as fingers went through the black-and-white fur.

A sweet moment of tenderness in all that arcade mayhem.

“It’s ok...” smiled Shirube, and continued, in a gentle matter-of-fact tone: “You did all the work, I just did the last step, so yes... you won him for me. We did it together.”

Zero was beaming with joy, a wide grin forming on his face. “Hehehehe...!” he giggled happily.

~

After a few more games, they went outside, to enjoy the last bit of afternoon sun.

Sitting in the city park on a bench, they ate ice cream cones. Refreshing and fruity, with strawberry and vanilla flavour.

The orange sun rays broken through the many green leaves and left dancing shadow spots on the ground beneath them. There they set, silently licking their ice cream, and looking around the park. Many people, all doing different things: Playing frisbee, walking their dog, enjoying the sun, chatting in the shade, looking at the water fountains...

A lovely late summer day.

Shirube had his panda on his lap, one arm around it, holding it with pride and security. Zero sat next to him, happy about their date.

“...This was a nice day.” said Shirube, feeling safe and secure with Zero and his panda, and continued to eat. Zero had already finished his strawberry cone and crunched the last bits of his waffle part away.

“Yeah, I think so too...” and licked his thumb off, as some ice had dripped off on it. As he looked at Shirube, he remarked: “Oh, you got some vanilla on your cheek there...!” and reached out with his other hand to wipe it off.

As his palm touched Shirube’s face, their eyes met.

And just then, Zero noticed how intimate this felt - holding him with great care, caressing his skin to get the ice cream spot off.

A gentle summer breeze went through the air and rustled the tree leaves with a sweet comforting noise. The shadows danced their delightful play, and Zero came closer to Shirube.

“_Is... Is that ok...? Can I...?_” stammered Zero.

Shirube simply nodded, not taking his eyes off Zero’s, wide-eyed and curious, he looked back.

“_I think... I want..._” started Zero, and was blushing heavily, then he came forward a little more, they both closed their eyes, they were both nervous, panting a little, being able to feel each others warm breath as their lips came closer...

And with a soft touch, they kissed for the first time.

It was sweet and gentle. The vanilla and strawberry coming together with a hint of a taste, and they felt each others comfort and togetherness, Shirube let his ice cream cone sink to the park bench and hugged his smiling panda tighter, Zero was trembling, his lips touching Shirube’s with great amazement and carefulness.

After a few moments of this careful new intimacy, some leaves flying by in the warm wind of this lovely summer’s day, they parted with a small gasp, and opened their eyes again.

Shirube looked curiously at Zero, who was completely beet-red with embarrassment, and who began stammering: “Well... Yes...! I... think I like you Shirube!!!” and scratched his neck while fidgeting on the spot. He wasn’t sure if this was too sudden, or a good idea in the first place, and if he also felt the same way after all their gaming afternoons-

But Shirube simply smiled and nodded, “Yeah... I like you too...!” and rested his head on the panda in his lap.

They both felt incredibly smitten. This was surely the beginning to something new and lovely, whatever their future would hold.

And so, they sat some more on this cosy wooden park bench, enjoyed the setting sun, and both looked forward to more video game days spent together.

**THE END**

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was part of my Giveaway Event for reaching 100 followers on Twitter, and this prompt was by BadSquidPuns: "Soft Zero/Shirube fic, I was thinking nervous flustered zero taking Shirube to an arcade of some type. Shirube doesn't say much but the date ends with a nice kiss"  
Thank you for such a lovely prompt! 
> 
> You too can visit me on Twitter [@LewdPointyNoses](https://twitter.com/LewdPointyNoses) for updates and ravings, or write me on Discord, Lepon#2891!


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